It looks like we are having a very early spring this year. Many of us will not be gardening and pruning early enough to keep up with the “El Niño” conditions.

Usually, February is a good time to dig and move plants, prune fruit trees and roses, cut back ornamental grasses, and just get ready for the growing season. This year, most plants are way ahead of schedule.

Issaquah resident Stacy Strickland can remember the immediate bond she felt with Karen Conley the morning they met at Relay for Life on the track behind Issaquah High School.

ContributedKaren Conley (right) and Michelle Salene, of Team Aloha, which Conley started, get a ride up in the Eastside Fire & Rescue ladder truck during a recent Relay for Life event at Issaquah High School.

The women were both at the school in response to an article in The Issaquah Press that described the need for additional help at the annual fundraiser that raises money to fight cancer.

The 15 boys who stood on the stage were mostly solemn, but some of them allowed grins to creep across their faces as they absorbed the magnitude of the moment.

By Neil PiersonAlex Hammingh is adorned with a new scarf and his Arrow of Light award, signifying his transition into Boy Scouts during a Feb. 3 ceremony at Pacific Cascade Middle School.

Cub Scout packs across the country hold annual transition ceremonies for 11- and 12-year-olds who have fulfilled the requirements to join Boy Scouts. Cub Scout Pack 682, which draws its members from Issaquah and Sammamish, honored its graduating fifth-graders Feb. 3 at Pacific Cascade Middle School.

Forget wizards and dragons and, with one exception, aliens and space armadas.

For Game ON! 2015, Feb. 5-8 at the Issaquah Holiday Inn, the name of the games was mostly history.

By Greg FarrarGeoffrey Phipps (left), game designer, longtime historical gaming hobbyist Tyler Roush and game developer Scot McConnachie, are aided by textbooks on the Battle of Gallipoli and inspired by an Australian recruiting poster, as they refine a draft original of ‘Gallipoli 1915: Churchill’s Greatest Gamble’ during the Game ON! convention.

By Greg FarrarRobin Sheaffer, a registered nurse and volunteer for Issaquah’s Community Emergency Response Team, FEMA’s Medical Reserve Corps and King County Public Health Reserve Corps, shows a Vial of Life canister, which contains a front door sticker, refrigerator door magnet and medical information form. Sheaffer was in charge of the Issaquah Citizen Corps booth Feb. 7 during the Health & Safety Fair at Pickering Barn. The free canisters were funded by a grant from the Puget Sound Energy Foundation. The sticker and magnet alert first responders to check for the information form in the canister, stored in the refrigerator of any household resident who is in any vulnerable population group. The program enables emergency responders to quickly locate helpful information regarding a resident’s medical history and any advanced directives.

Newcastle resident Dana Sullivan doesn’t always wear bunny rabbit slippers in public, but he will for a gaggle of adorable children.

By Christina Corrales-ToyAuthor Dana Sullivan reads his book, ‘Kay Kay’s Alphabet Safari’ to a group of children at Bellevue’s University Bookstore on Jan. 22.

Sullivan and his floppy-eared footwear made an appearance at Bellevue’s University Bookstore Jan. 22, where the author and illustrator read his newest book, “Kay Kay’s Alphabet Safari,” to a cute, albeit somewhat restless, audience of toddlers.

It’s not unusual to see three families become close friends, but it’s a bit abnormal when they give up Christmas at home for a two-week volunteer effort in Central America.

ContributedThe Walley, Nelson and Connor families traveled together over the recent holiday break from Issaquah to Nicaragua, where they spent two weeks helping impoverished residents.

The Connor, Nelson and Walley families have literally grown up together in Issaquah. The six children know each other well — four of them are classmates at Issaquah High School, and the other two attend Pacific Cascade Middle School together.

I have a question. Are the deer living in our yards, or are we living in theirs? About a year and a half ago I asked this question in a column about deer. I just reread that column, and my thoughts have changed. I used to complain, because they seemed to go for my most prized plants. Now, I see them more as part of the landscape rather than a challenge to it. Low maintenance, sustainability and an environmentally sensitive garden are important. I’m growing lots of natives and feel good when I share those plants with the deer.

If you are trying to grow roses, perennials and amazing flowers in suburbia without a fence, your plants are in harm’s way. You might detest the deer and if so, you are looking for plants they don’t like. We can’t remember everything they like and don’t like, so it’s best to know just the generalities. Here are a few: Read more